Patricia Greenfield

Psychologist Patricia Greenfield discusses reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic

Head-and-shoulders portrait of Patricia Greenfield

Reed Hutchinson/UCLA
Patricia Greenfield, UCLA professor of psychology

Patricia Greenfield, distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA, delivered the 133rd Faculty Research Lecture virtually in February. Her talk, “Pandemic Culture: Adapting to Survival Threat and Small-Scale Social Environments,” covered the social, cultural, behavioral and psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to help audience members make sense of their own pandemic experience.

Watch the recorded lecture below:

Prior to the event, Greenfield spoke with UCLA Newsroom about her research findings, her pandemic experience and the importance of this lecture topic:

We have all been through the pandemic. From the human perspective, I hope my lecture helps people understand and integrate their own COVID experiences. From the scientific perspective, I hope people will see how powerful my theory of social change, cultural evolution and human behavior is in making predictions about real-world behavior.

Read the full Q&A with Patricia Greenfield at UCLA Newsroom.